21-year-old wildlife photographer's rare capture in Bandipur National Park
Wildlife photographer Dhruv Patil came across a rare leopard with different eye colors on his recent safari to Bandipur
For the first time in India, a leopard with different colored eyes was captured in Bandipur National Park. Bengaluru-based wildlife photographer Dhruv Patil, the maestro behind the capture, couldn't believe it at first! “I never believed I would find this rare phenomenon; my original intention was to film a new born cub and her mother known as Meesekari – or the ‘reception leopardess’ – in Bandipur,” Patil tells us. The leopard has a genetic mutation known as Heterochromia Iridum which causes each of the eyes to be of a different color.
Patil shares the story on how he came across the beautiful animal. “It was like any other leopard sighting but I initially thought that she is an old female perched on a very low branch amidst the monsoon greens. It was when I got back home and started processing the images that I realized that the leopard has idiosyncratic eyes. My first instinct was to show my mother that I might have just found something incredible," he shares and further adds, “However, I also had to ensure it wasn’t just cataract, causing the left eye to look pale. My gut knew at an instant it was a heterochromic mutation but for the first time to be documented in India, it felt incredible to have captured it. I immediately went through all the different pictures and videos in different angles to understand more while researching about heterochromia iridum and how rare of a mutation it is. I also wanted to learn if it is a mutation that her possible cubs could carry, only to realize how recessive and rare the mutation is.”
Patil began his journey into wildlife photography at the age of 10. He tells us, “It began from the dogs at home and progressed to birds when my mother handed me the Birds of India book by the Inskipp brothers. I felt it fascinating to read about the different species and then actually see them and capture them with my mother’s camera. In 2013 when I was 10, I had my first trip to Kabini with my mother’s camera. For the first time, I saw three leopards – the legendary torn ears from Kabini. After spending 3 days with the guides who worked tirelessly to track these big cats, I was hypnotised by the rosettes. I fell in love with the jungle and everything it had to offer.”
“What drives me to continue it is to think how many people in the forthcoming generations may actually see the rare wildlife that I have. It’s daunting the way the world is progressing with more species getting endangered by the day. I believe the camera is like my pen, a pen that can bring change by narrating visual stories to people of my generation to try and persuade them to fall in love with the animals I have grown up with. Compassion is key to conservation and I hope to build that bridge between people across the world through their smartphones when they see my pictures and hear their stories to fall in love with the animals and in turn become a part of the conservation movement,” Patil shares.
Ask him, what the beauty of Bandipur National Park is and he says, “Bandipur is an incredible national park with one of the most unique topographies I have ever seen – from beautiful banyan trees to spot leopards on to capturing tigers with the Nilgiri mountains in the backdrop. Bandipur is a haven for leopards, and a peculiar reason I love Bandipur is simply for the size of its big cats. Unlike Kabini, Bandipur’s prey base consists mainly of larger prey like Sambars and Gaur. This causes tigers’ and leopards’ jawlines to be much larger and their sizes itself larger as the topography contains a lot of elevation that needs climbing strength. Bandipur has a lot to be explored, like this unique individual I captured out of the blue.”
“I would not say it’s common to spot such a rare leopard, because so far it’s only been documented for the first time and it’s an old female, but Bandipur does provide immense opportunities to observe some unique leopard and tiger individuals that can be a treat for photographers,” Patil signs off.